New Zealand : April 2013

Back in April I made my first journey to the southern hemisphere. And, of course, it had to be exactly on the opposite end of the planet. 12 hour time change. New Zealand.

The catalyst of the trip was the marriage of former-amsterdammers/NZ natives Toby+Sonya. And of course, if you're going to go all that way, you may as well see a couple other things as well!

Enroute—Hong Kong. We were a bit out of our brains by the time we landed in Hong Kong. Managed to eat some food, and walked the longest hallway I've ever walked in my live. I have no idea how long it was, but it took us a solid 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other. 

And then just like that, we were in Auckland. Saying 'hi' to these guys!:

 

Enjoying the modern electric system of Auckland:

Taking a day trip to Piha:

The duo:

 Some prepping for a wedding raffle:

And before you knew it, we were off to Queenstown on the South island. We did the tourist things. We rode the cable car up from the town. We took the steam boat on the lake. It was all very lovely...

After mucking about in Queenstown for a day, it was time to get serious. We prepped our last-minute gear and meals shopping and took an early bus out of town. It takes some doing to get to the trailhead. First, you take a bus ride for a couple hours to Te Anau. Then another bus to Te Anau Downs. Then a boat to the trailhead. All very well coordinated and organised.

The hike was 4 days, 3 nights. We stayed in cabins with bunks. Outfitted to hold 40 hikers. We had to bring sleeping bags, but didn't have to worry about mats. There was also a kitchen cabin with gas stoves and sinks. I've never gone backpacking without having to carry my own stove,water-filter, tent or sleeping pad. So, I'd say all in all this was pretty plush. We didn't have to put our food in the tree either. The largest worry was to have your shoes hauled off in the night by one of the birds. But the simple solution was to just hang them from a coat hook, off the ground, and there was no risk of that problem. So, all in all it was pretty smooth sailing. 

Now, if we had rain, that would have been a whole other adventure. But we didn't, so our hike went quite smooth.

The top! MacKinnon Pass:

The valley we hiked up to reach the pass:

At the end of the hike, we were picked up from Sandfly Point, and carted across Milford Sound to catch our bus back to Queenstown:

Then back up to Auckland for some more wedding prepping:

Off to Waiheke island for some wine tasting. Man of War winery below (where we bought your olive oil mom).

Last up on the agenda. Wedding! The night before we headed out to Shakespear Camp in Whangaparaoa park, North of Auckland. Reception area getting some bunting, lighting, blanket love:

Morning swim at the park before the wedding:

Some more prepping:

Action!

The Amsterdammers:

Sonya+Toby!

The "camp" was indeed a camp. With bunks. So, we were able to stay out at the park the night before, and the night of the wedding. Very convenient.

The day after the wedding we caught an evening flight home via Shanghai. And then we were back in Amsterdam. Just like that. 

Prague Weekend

I attempted to plan Ignasi a surprise weekend trip. The surprise lasted roughly 8 hours, and then he saw an email pop up regarding the trip while we were on my computer. Oh well. I tried. But, surprises aside, we still had a fantastic time!

Last weekend we went to Prague. One of the benefits of living here...weekend adventures!

With a skyline of steeples and spires, streets lined with classic old buildings painted in pastels and adorned with decorative motifs, and nods to Art Nouveau everywhere—Prague is a very beautiful city. And they have delicious beer. And in comparison with other european cities, it's relatively in-expensive. Of course, I'm mainly speaking about the central 3 or so kilometers of the city. In stereotypical tourist fashion, I didn't see a whole lot outside of center, so I can't comment on that. But, all in all, I couldn't recommend this city more.

Friday:

We didn't take any time off work, so we arrived pretty late. We stayed at an Airbnb place just off of the old city square. The place was simple, clean, had a kitchenette. I'd recommend it/stay there again. And great location to wander from. So, we did just that. When we got in Friday night, we decided to go for a stroll:

Old Town Square:

Charles Bridge:

Saturday:

Saturday was a bit of a day of consumption. And nothing makes you feel like you're spending loads of money like Czech cash:

We started off breakfast a little ways off center at Muj Salek Kavy. Great food. Great service. Good atmosphere. 

Next we headed to the Mucha museum. This guy definitely knew what he was doing. Amazing work.

Some strolling and building gazing:

Time for meal #2. U Medvidku Beer Hall.

Ignasi: "Why do you always put the beer in front of your face?"

Me: "Because it's THE SIZE OF MY HEAD!!"

Some more strolling. And then time for a little coffee and cake at the beautiful Cafe Louvre.

Portraits. Ignasi got a bit more serious than I did.

Then we headed up the Petrin Hill to scope out the mirror maze. Pretty fun!

Once off the 'mountain' we had a little refresher at the very beautiful Cafe Savoy:

Saturday night we had, hands down, one of the best meals of my life at La Finestra. I don't know if it was the massive truffle that was freshly shaved onto our appetizers, the beautiful wine and main, or the incredibly smiley/friendly staff...it was amazing. We wandered past, lost on our way somewhere else. I'm glad we decided to try them out. And I'm glad they had one non-reservation table in the back, that we were lucky enough to occupy. I don't have much in terms of photos, since I left my camera at home. But if you're looking for a wonderful meal while visiting Prague—go there!

Sunday:

Our flight didn't take off until Sunday afternoon, so that afforded us the luxury of a few hours for wandering.

Some fairy-tale buildings:

After breakfast headed back over the Charles bridge and up to the castle:

Castle Cathedral

Golden Lane

Visiting the castle was good. We did the "short stay," so, maybe we missed out on some exciting bits.

After the castle we needed to grab a quick bite before headed to the airport. Ignasi ordered the 'pork knuckle.' It wasn't a "quick bite" after all:

Thank you Prague!

 Parting Shot: